BLOODY STRAITJACKET
This article was originally published in the May 24, 2025 Edition
It’s time to throw the baby named the Inyo Los Angeles Long-Term Water Agreement out with the bathwater pumped into the tub from Inyo County’s aquifers.
That was the overriding theme presented by the public during the May 19 Inyo-LA Standing Committee meeting in Independence.
Speaker after speaker urged officials from Los Angeles and Inyo County to free the Owens Valley from the Long Term Water Agreement (LTWA) straitjacket that, they said, has decimated the Owens Valley’s environment by only providing basic “management” instead of a more holistic approach that would eventually create a “sustainable” ecosystem.
To get to the “sustainable” level, members of the public threw everything but the kitchen sink on the table: banning exports of Inyo and Mono county water to Los Angeles; doing away with all groundwater pumping; changing the protocols that set pumping levels from vegetation goals to groundwater levels; using only surface water, not pumped water for mitigation measures, environmental projects and agriculture; allowing the public, outside experts and scientists, and nonprofit groups to get in the middle of determining pumping and other water issues; and giving local tribes water rights and land to implement ancient, historical water and irrigation uses.
Amid the backwash of those suggestions, it was mostly overlooked that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) had listened to previous public comments and county suggestions and lowered its planned groundwater pumping ranges by about 5,000 acre feet. The minimum pumping figure is now 62,160 AF with a max of 83,760. That low end number is close to what the county Water Department initially recommended (61,000 AF), but still above the final “suggestion” from the county to set pumping at last year’s level of 48,780 AF. Exports to LA would remain at 269,000 AF.
The one-sentence summation of the problems created by just following the terms of the LTWA came from Teri Red Owl, of the Inyo County Water Commission and a Standing Committee member: The county and LADWP “need to look at the valley as a whole,” she said. “We should be stewards of the valley, not just managers.”
The most descriptive, and somewhat gruesome analogy describing the decades of water “managing” came from long-time water watcher Ceal Klinger.
Her comments came after LADWP said baseline vegetation levels are pretty much okay for decades, and average groundwater levels are “trending upward,” albeit with ups and downs since 1974 when massive pumping to fill the Second Barrel of the LA Aqueduct was stalled while LA and the County and lots of lawyers worked to create the LTWA. Plus, the Water Agreement’s “on-off” protocols for which pumps to run would “allow” up to 225,000 AF of pumping this year. But since the Water Agreement, pumping levels have been average around 70,000 AF, which is below the projected and allowable levels of 91,000 AF in the agreement’s Environmental Impact Report. In most cases pumping comes in lower than planned, as was the case in at least the last two years.
Klinger, who served for years on the Owens Valley Committee, a signatory on the LTWA, was not impressed. Her colorful take on the decades-long water works: Imagine someone was taking your blood for decades, then decided they want your bone marrow next. Since there is no baseline for sustainable bone marrow, they could say “we could take it all,” both blood and bone marrow, and leave the body behind to dry. When they compromise and just keep taking the blood, that’s not really a win. So, we should stop saying “LADWP could behave even worse.”
While the audience applauded the case for radical surgery on the Water Agreement, the elected officials set out some simple, little “nip and tuck” moves and a promise to explore how to improve or modify the Water Agreement. The four LA representatives and LADWP staff said they listened to and heard the long list of suggestions and would take those comments seriously and explore how to act on them.
First off, Inyo County Supervisor Jeff Griffiths pointed out the huge “allowable” pumping numbers are “nonsense.” If that much pumping occurred, he said, the resulting vegetation losses would dictate most of the pumps would move to “off” position and likely would not ever come back “on.” LA Aqueduct Manager Adam Perez subtly agreed, noting the department manages groundwater “holistically,” and aquifer levels are considered when setting pumping plans. Plus, the department manages pumping “so not to put wells in off” status.
It was noted that after two nearly 100% of average runoff years following the massive 200% year, only two of 22 groundwater pumping monitoring sites are in the “off” status.
A long-sought fix is a mechanical alteration to the groundwater pumps supplying water to the Fish Springs Fish Hatchery that would reduce total pumping without harming trout production. Griffiths said the goal is getting that project done this year.
Once again, both groups also seemed to agree that the year-round flows and seasonal “flushing” regime for the Lower Owens River Project are not achieving the desired results and need to be revised or updated. George McGraw, an LADWP commissioner, said LADWP would certainly look at higher flows, but they would have to be “water neutral.” That would mean enlarging the current pump back station at the end of the river that pumps water back the LA Aqueduct. That has been a sticking point for years.
In general, McGraw acknowledged the Water Agreement “can and should be updated.” But Inyo and LA are also “stewards” of both the Owens Valley and the LTWA. Griffiths agreed, pointing out the agreement provides LA with an assurance of a stable water source from the Owens Valley and in return for the valley getting some environmental protections, and mandated in-valley water uses and mitigation measures.
And therein lies the legal straitjacket. Virtually nothing suggested by the public over multiple meetings that could have a notable impact on the current LADWP operations and pumping plan the Owens Valley is in the legally binding, court approved LTWA, the 1991 EIR, the Green Book technical manual, and the Memorandum of Understanding. The key point is that both LADWP and the county both have agree to any changes to those documents and procedures. Both have veto power over any change, in other words.
So changing any and all of those is a daunting task. But not impossible. Changes to the Blackrock Waterfowl Management Area are the most recent example of “adaptive management” when all vested parties agree to overhaul a Water Agreement mitigation measure to improve results. Instead of flooding 500 acres of land year round (which just created a tule swamp), the changes allow for seasonal flooding aligned with the arrival of migratory birds and the mechanical removal of tules when the land is dried out. The new plan’s five year trial period is up this year and those changes are likely to be moved to “permanent” status.
Adrian Nazarian, an LA City Council member on the Standing Committee and former state legislator involved in water issues, noted the city and county are partners, and both “want to see that transition” to a more sustainable and equitable management approach. He added that “we can’t use water the way we used to,” so change is inevitable. He also acknowledged the large contingent of SoCal and LA residents commenting on the pumping plan. “Those comments are not lost on anyone.”
Nurit Katz, LADWP commissioner and Chief Sustainability Officer at the UCLA Biodivesity Department who also helped author the state’s 30-30 land conservation and preservation plan, said she was not in Independence at the meeting “just to check a box … I’m here to listen.” She acknowledge past harm to local tribes and noted “no one can erase the past,” but she is looking forward to moving LADWP in “the right direction.”
Janisse Quinones, LADWP CEO and Chief Engineer, said the department is looking at “what’s possible” moving forward, and is open to changes in the Long-Term Water Agreement. “We hear your passion, and that’s important.”
